The Carter Report
by dreamer one
Summary: A tag to the SGA episode, The Seer. Woolsey personally delivers his report to Homeworld Security and Jack O'Neill.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: A tag for SGA episode "The Seer"; written from the perspective of an ultimate SJ shipper.

THE CARTER REPORT

Major General Jack O'Neill groaned inwardly. It had been a long, frustrating day. Now, as he pushed back from his desk, he stood slowly, stretching the aching muscles of his six-foot, two-inch frame.

He was exhausted. God knows it wasn't from any strenuous physical activity. In fact that was likely the problem. He'd spent the entire day behind this miserable desk in his overly ornate office at the Pentagon. He didn't belong here. Sure, he struck everyone in his command as utterly indispensable to the cause, but Jack O'Neill knew he belonged in the field, preferably with the Atlantis expedition, preferably with his wife.

That said, Jack was a realist; he knew a posting with Sam wasn't in the cards, at least not in the foreseeable future. And he had to admit, though her absence and her placement in a dangerous outpost gave him nightmares, she was doing a bang up job without any help from him. At least that's what the all too thorough report he'd just completed led him to believe.

"General O'Neill, Sir," his secretary called from the doorway. "There's a Richard Woolsey here to see you. He says you'll know what it's about."

_Woolsey? What's he doing here? _Jack thought. _Hell, I used all the self restraint I had to avoid going to the mountain to meet him this morning. Now he comes to me? Great._

"Alright, Erica," Jack said dutifully, "send him in."

Before Jack had the chance to settle in behind his desk again, Richard Woolsey was standing directly in front of him, extending his hand, clearly expecting a friendly welcome. _Not! Jack thought. Not after the grief he gave Sam this past week._

"Mr. Woolsey, this is an unexpected visit," Jack said, ignoring the man's hand and making his way to the safety of his desk. "What can I do for you?" It really didn't pay to alienate the IOA in his present position. _Play nice, Jack._

"I wanted to deliver my report in person," Woolsey said, taking a seat without invitation.

"Report?"

"I'm sure you realized the IOA dispatched me to complete Colonel Carter's three month evaluation, essentially an assessment of the effectiveness of her command."

"Yes, I am," Jack replied evenly. _And why anyone would think you or any other pencil pusher in that office would be capable of evaluating anything Sam does is beyond me, _he thought. _Careful, Jack._

As usual, Jack O'Neill's attitude disoriented Richard Woolsey. The man's devil-may-care persona and sarcastic wit always threw him off balance. So it took a moment for the well meaning bureaucrat to continue with the reason for his visit.

"Well, General, I wanted to personally deliver a copy of my report," Woolsey said, regaining his composure. "I'm aware that you and Colonel Carter worked together closely for several years and are close friends. I assumed you'd be interested."

Woolsey fancied himself to be a friend of Jack O'Neill ever since their ill-fated visit to the Weir command on Atlantis a little more than a year ago. Frankly that irritated Jack to no end. _If he ever knew exactly how close Carter and I are … wouldn't he be surprised_, Jack thought.

"Of course, as head of Homeworld Security, you would be receiving this officially tomorrow," Woolsey continued, taken aback by Jack's silence.

"Yes, I would, Mr. Woolsey," Jack said pleasantly enough. "But, if you must know, I've already read it."

"You've already …"

"Yes."

"But… how…? I only finished it during my layover at Midway station. I sent it on to my superiors over secure channels at the SGC."

"I have my sources," Jack said cryptically.

"So you do, General," Woolsey acknowledged, knowing he'd more than met his match for the second time in as many days.

"By the way," Jack said, softening only a smidgen, "how's Sa … Colonel Carter?"

"I'm sure if you've read my report, you realize she handled the recent emergency situation on Atlantis with great finesse," Woolsey said. "She appears to be a capable commander with a good understanding of the enemy."

Jack nodded his silent agreement. "But?" he asked, recognizing Woolsey's unfinished, withholding tone of voice.

"But, she …" Woolsey hesitated, not at all sure this was the place to bring up his own bruised ego.

"She told you off, didn't she?" Jack said, knowing he was right from his understanding of Sam as much as from having read Woolsey's report.

"It seems Colonel Carter does not understand that as an IOA representative I am authorized to countermand her orders."

"Hmm…" Jack said, slowly nodding his head. "She doesn't understand?" _There isn't much Sam doesn't understand, you idiot_, he thought. _Unfortunately, the same can't be said for you._

"Or appreciate the fact, Sir," Woolsey foolishly continued. "However, in this particular case, everything seemed to work out," he admitted sheepishly.

"Work out, you say?" Jack quipped. "I'd say it 'worked out', Richard. If Colonel Carter had gone along with you, I'll bet the expedition would have been wiped out by the Wraith. What's more, you and I wouldn't be having this little conversation, now would we?"

At the least, Richard Woolsey meant well. He was a man who stood by his principles and believed in what he did and the people for whom he worked. He did his best to be an honorable, trustworthy human being. Which was more than Jack O'Neill could say for a lot of the people he'd met in Washington. Still, Woolsey's shortcomings were monumentally frustrating to Jack, and at this moment to Woolsey himself.

"If by that you mean I'm not a military man, you're right. You're also right that I'm not qualified to do Colonel Carter's job," Woolsey said, standing up and preparing to leave a place he was clearly not wanted. "I am however, committed to doing my own job. And like it or not, General, that job involves civilian oversight of the Atlantis expedition."

"So it does," Jack admitted, also standing, following Woolsey's lead.

"I have to admit," the IOA representative added, "after this experience I will be more likely to trust Colonel Carter's command instincts."

"See that you do, Woolsey," Jack said, attempting a thin smile that came out as a smirk.

Halfway out the door, eager to make his escape, Richard Woolsey turned once more to face his less than adoring audience.

"I almost forgot, General," he said. "Another reason I'm here, something Colonel Carter asked me to give you." With that he handed Jack a small envelope address formally to General Jack O'Neill.

"Goodbye Woolsey," Jack said, "and thanks."

TBC

* * *

A/N: One more chapter to follow (and soon). 


	2. Chapter 2

THE CARTER REPORT

Chapter Two: SAM'S WORDS

Jack breathed a sigh of relief as Richard Woolsey left his office. Woolsey wasn't a bad man. Jack disliked the idea of a pencil pusher looking over Sam's shoulder, but, all-in-all, he supposed it could have been worse. Sam could have been saddled with an old NID sort, like Kinsey and his minions. As it was, Jack was certain Woolsey would never do anything to out and out sabotage Sam. That was something.

Another something was the personal delivery he'd just received from the man. Granted, he couldn't understand why Sam would send anything with Woolsey; all the more reason to open it immediately. After all, it could be important and it was from Sam.

As he tore into the envelope, he found a disc with a small piece of note paper wrapped around it. Excitedly, he placed the disc on his desk and proceeded to read the short note written in Sam's hand.

"General O'Neill," it began, all too formally. "You must be wondering why I chose to send this with Mr. Woolsey. Actually, it's something like a test. If it makes it to you in one piece, I'll know I can trust him a bit more. If not, or if he opens it, well, both he and I will be the wiser for the experience. Anyway, just in case, the good stuff's on the DVD and it's coded."

Jack chuckled at Sam's thoughts of testing Woolsey. Well, at least the man had passed that one. Still he hoped there would be a more personal message on the DVD. He missed his wife and the idea of hearing from her, even by video, was exciting.

Without further delay, he popped the disc into his player. Sure enough, it was specially encoded. It was a code Sam had devised for just these circumstances, personal, confidential communication between husband and wife. As such, only Jack and Sam had access to machines that could break the code and allow playback of anything but gibberish.

As he settled into one of the more comfortable armchairs in his office, Jack saw Sam's face flash on the screen, the decoder did its thing and her voice began to flow freely from the lips he loved so much. Who was he kidding, just watching Sam right now would have been enough. The words were an extra gift.

"Hello, Jack. You can't imagine how much I miss you," Sam began. Then as if she could hear his voice in her head, she blushed slightly and added. "Or maybe you can… Anyway, I knew Woolsey would find his way to you shortly after his return. Since you saved his sorry butt last year, he seems to think you and he are good buddies. So I thought I'd take advantage of the messenger service."

Sam's image went silent for a moment, and her face, well her face went all solemn on him. It was that look she got when she was very serious and wanted him to understand exactly what she was talking about. He only hoped there was nothing wrong.

"I love you, Jack," she said finally. His heart soared and broke at the same time. That declaration should be something happy, not something that brought tears to her eyes. And Sam certainly looked to be on the verge of tears.

"Being so far away from you is the hardest thing I've ever had to do," she continued, clearly holding back unwanted tears. "I swear, harder that blowing up that damned sun, harder than what we've just been through here on Atlantis, and lots harder than listening to Mr. Woolsey." With that last piece Sam smiled slightly.

"By the way, Jack," she said. "Don't be too hard on Richard Woolsey. Like it or not, he's just doing his job. Unfortunately, it's his job to look over my shoulder. Good thing, I've been well trained in how to deal with bureaucrats. Right?"

Jack winced slightly. Glad as he was she'd found it in her to tell off Woolsey when the moment came, he knew some of the sarcastic comebacks she'd learned from him could also get her into trouble. He hoped she had better sense about it than he did. He assumed that was the case. As far as he was concerned, Carter had more sense than him in most every endeavor.

"I want to thank you. Hopefully I've said all this before, but it bears repeating even if I have," Sam said, her distant eyes unerringly searching for and finding his across the galaxies. "I've learned so much from the years I spent traipsing around the galaxy with you. They might have been the hardest years in the world, what with keeping my hands off of you, but I learned about command from watching you. The way you handled people and impossible situations, your humor, the way you read situations, I watched and I remembered it all for now." Sam paused, gauging her next words as she seemed to stare right at him, reaching straight for his heart. Jack swallowed hard, his own eyes filling with tears.

"It's scary, really," Sam said finally. "Here I am light years away from you and I find your words coming out of my mouth. Sometimes, I think I've been infected by your sarcasm and your odd sense of humor. Still I love it; it reminds of you … and of how much I miss you."

As he listened and watched the face of his wife, Jack's heart swelled with pride. She was incredible. As much as he hated having her so far away, Atlantis was lucky to have her in charge. She was smart, wise and brave, a good combination in his book. In the three months she'd been on the job, she proved herself more than once. He had no doubt she'd be called on to do it again. He could only hope and pray she'd be safe and come back to him. And he would do everything in his considerable power to head off any and all foolish challenges to her authority. More than that, he'd do his level best to make his way to Atlantis for a visit as soon as possible. If Woolsey could get there, so could he.

And now, Sam was ending her short message.

"Please don't worry about me, Jack. I have a great team. They pull together, like we did on SG1. They're talented, dedicated and selfless. What's more, they're making room for me. They're making my job easy. I'm in good hands. I know you'd like and respect all of them.

"Did I say I miss you? I do," she said. "I love you, Jack.

"Goodbye for now."

"Goodbye, Sam," Jack answered silently. "For now."

The End.


End file.
